SecretCode
Senior Member
There's a couple of threads here, and some posts on hellopeter (e.g.), about very high data charges if you use data while on international roaming.
MTN publishes voice (R5 per min, send or receive) and SMS rates (R1.50 to send, free to receive), but doesn't publish data rates (because, I think, they vary with each international network) - just "currently much higher than local rates". They do make it clear that data bundles don't apply.
In response to some complaints, they announced (here - but the page isn't loading today) they would send an SMS when you first connect in a new country, with the rates; and take some other actions which I can't recall.
So ... MTN's out-of-bundle rate is R2/MB. I was in Botswana, and the main network there is Mascom. They and the second network, Orange, charge BWP3/MB which at current exchange rates is about R4.50/MB.
Let's assume both costs apply and a huge markup, say 100%, for admin and extra accounting and billing. That would mean as much as R13/MB.
Not quite.
I finally got an answer yesterday from the 1555 data support centre (and it took them a while to look it up): R306.15/MB (at least 50 times as expensive as the already expensive Mascom Botswana charge). Plus a 100kB minimum, so if your phone checks email headers in a session of 10kb, that will still cost ~R30.
They confirmed there is no way to block data roaming while enabling voice and SMS roaming - unless you block all data with a service called GPRS NO, which you'd then have to remove when you returned to SA.
So don't use data when roaming! Switch off every data function on your phone!
Dr_Data or anyone from MTN, can you explain the very high charges? Can there really be actual costs this high? Conversely, if it's simply a business MTN doesn't want and you're trying to discourage it, why not do more to make the likely level of costs clearer?
MTN publishes voice (R5 per min, send or receive) and SMS rates (R1.50 to send, free to receive), but doesn't publish data rates (because, I think, they vary with each international network) - just "currently much higher than local rates". They do make it clear that data bundles don't apply.
In response to some complaints, they announced (here - but the page isn't loading today) they would send an SMS when you first connect in a new country, with the rates; and take some other actions which I can't recall.
So ... MTN's out-of-bundle rate is R2/MB. I was in Botswana, and the main network there is Mascom. They and the second network, Orange, charge BWP3/MB which at current exchange rates is about R4.50/MB.
Let's assume both costs apply and a huge markup, say 100%, for admin and extra accounting and billing. That would mean as much as R13/MB.
Not quite.
I finally got an answer yesterday from the 1555 data support centre (and it took them a while to look it up): R306.15/MB (at least 50 times as expensive as the already expensive Mascom Botswana charge). Plus a 100kB minimum, so if your phone checks email headers in a session of 10kb, that will still cost ~R30.
They confirmed there is no way to block data roaming while enabling voice and SMS roaming - unless you block all data with a service called GPRS NO, which you'd then have to remove when you returned to SA.
So don't use data when roaming! Switch off every data function on your phone!
Dr_Data or anyone from MTN, can you explain the very high charges? Can there really be actual costs this high? Conversely, if it's simply a business MTN doesn't want and you're trying to discourage it, why not do more to make the likely level of costs clearer?
shocking... but not surprised.
